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- Mar 31, 2009
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Murderer Found Guilty Using Dog's DNA
A 22-year-old man who stabbed a teenage boy to death is facing a life sentence after the first murder trial in which a dog's DNA was used as evidence.
Murderer Found Guilty Using Dog's DNA Play video
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20100318/video/vuk-murderer-found-guilty-using-dog-s-dn-37e89e1.html
Seyi Ogunyemi, 16, was killed in a "vicious" attack by a gang of youths who set upon him and his friends with their dogs
One, a Staffordshire bull terrier-bull mastiff cross called Tyson, brought down and mauled Seyi as he tried to climb over a fence.
The Old Bailey jury heard the slightly-built youngster stood no chance once he was in the animal's ferocious grip.
After it brought him to the ground he was stabbed six times by its owner Chrisdian Johnson, from Lambeth in south London.
Johnson was arrested as he fled the scene of the murder last April, bare-chested and covered in blood.
New DNA technology proved by a billion-to-one probability that some of the blood came from his dog Tyson, which had been knifed during the fighting. The rest came from Seyi.
As well as murder, Johnson was also found guilty of the attempted murder of Seyi's 17-year-old friend Hurui Hiyabum, whom he stabbed nine times.
Johnson's brother Shane Johnson, 20, who lived with him in Lambeth, was cleared of both charges.
A third defendant, 18-year-old Darcy Menezes, from nearby Clapham, was cleared earlier.
His dog, a female adult brindle Staffordshire terrier called Mia, also took part in the attack but the judge ruled there was not evidence to show Menezes was involved.
A decision on whether to destroy the dogs used in the attack has not yet been made.
The court heard that others who took part in the apparently gang-related attack on a rival group have not been identified or caught "despite a thorough police investigation".
Police have hailed the dog DNA technology, which had just been developed at the time of the murder, as a "hugely powerful investigative tool".
Det Insp Mick Norman said: "Seyi Ogunyemi was a young man of slight stature, suffering from Crohn's Disease.
"He was attacked by a dog released by Chrisdian Johnson and taken to the ground. While on the ground, he was stabbed where he lay. He didn't stand a chance."
He added: "The message I'd like to reinforce is that if a dog is used as a weapon, you will be caught, you will be prosecuted, and you will be convicted."
Johnson will be sentenced on Friday.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20100318/tuk-murderer-found-guilty-using-dog-s-dn-45dbed5.html
A 22-year-old man who stabbed a teenage boy to death is facing a life sentence after the first murder trial in which a dog's DNA was used as evidence.
Murderer Found Guilty Using Dog's DNA Play video
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20100318/video/vuk-murderer-found-guilty-using-dog-s-dn-37e89e1.html
Seyi Ogunyemi, 16, was killed in a "vicious" attack by a gang of youths who set upon him and his friends with their dogs
One, a Staffordshire bull terrier-bull mastiff cross called Tyson, brought down and mauled Seyi as he tried to climb over a fence.
The Old Bailey jury heard the slightly-built youngster stood no chance once he was in the animal's ferocious grip.
After it brought him to the ground he was stabbed six times by its owner Chrisdian Johnson, from Lambeth in south London.
Johnson was arrested as he fled the scene of the murder last April, bare-chested and covered in blood.
New DNA technology proved by a billion-to-one probability that some of the blood came from his dog Tyson, which had been knifed during the fighting. The rest came from Seyi.
As well as murder, Johnson was also found guilty of the attempted murder of Seyi's 17-year-old friend Hurui Hiyabum, whom he stabbed nine times.
Johnson's brother Shane Johnson, 20, who lived with him in Lambeth, was cleared of both charges.
A third defendant, 18-year-old Darcy Menezes, from nearby Clapham, was cleared earlier.
His dog, a female adult brindle Staffordshire terrier called Mia, also took part in the attack but the judge ruled there was not evidence to show Menezes was involved.
A decision on whether to destroy the dogs used in the attack has not yet been made.
The court heard that others who took part in the apparently gang-related attack on a rival group have not been identified or caught "despite a thorough police investigation".
Police have hailed the dog DNA technology, which had just been developed at the time of the murder, as a "hugely powerful investigative tool".
Det Insp Mick Norman said: "Seyi Ogunyemi was a young man of slight stature, suffering from Crohn's Disease.
"He was attacked by a dog released by Chrisdian Johnson and taken to the ground. While on the ground, he was stabbed where he lay. He didn't stand a chance."
He added: "The message I'd like to reinforce is that if a dog is used as a weapon, you will be caught, you will be prosecuted, and you will be convicted."
Johnson will be sentenced on Friday.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20100318/tuk-murderer-found-guilty-using-dog-s-dn-45dbed5.html
